Module 3: Socio-cultural And Psychologicial Aspects of Aging

3.4: Ethno-Cultural Issues And Age-Stratified Societies

3.4.12: Social Class as Stratifying Principle

Except in very tiny societies, every population has social classes, based usually on social prestige or rank, occupation, education, wealth, and leadership/charisma. People with little access to resources often end up in the bottom tiers, poor, disadvantaged, and sick. People in the upper social classes often live longer, have fewer functional or chronic disorders (especially life-threatening disorders), less morbidity and later mortality than those in the lower social classes. There is increasingly good evidence that socio-economic status (SES), especially in combination with ethnicity, leads to these systematic disparities in health status (Williams, 1990, 1999; Williams & Collins, 1995), disparities that are usually also compounded in complicated ways by gender as well as age and other demographic factors (e.g., rural vs. urban residence, regional location).
Also see: Implications of Increasing Diversity for Health Care (Note: This link will open in a new browser window which you can close to return here).

Development of this curriculum was funded by University of California Academic Geriatric Resource Program, the UCSF John A. Harford Center for Geriatric Excellence and the US Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) Health Resources and Services Admin, Bureau of Health Professions (HRSA/BHPr), Grant Number UB4HP19046